Number 493


Harpy in Central Park


Ace Comics' The Beyond #15, "Harpy in Central Park" is pretty plain in its meaning. A woman who turns into a mythological being, a harpy, uses sex to get her victims, to "snatch men's souls." In the first page one horny guy is looking for a pickup, and is, luckily for him, beaten out by the harpy's victim.

A couple of years after this Ace story appeared, Carl Barks drew "The Golden Fleecing" for Uncle Scrooge #12, and quoting him from 1989's Gladstone Album #19, Barks said, "I almost had to eat those 32 pages of drawings. . .It seems that Harpy or Harpie is an obscure nickname for a streetwalker. I managed to save the story by renaming the old girls LARKIES."

No such dilemma as to what a harpy is existed for the editors at Ace Comics. There is even a noxious odor that accompanies the harpy, and I don't even want to speculate about that. Artist unknown.